Therapist faces questions after boy dies

By Wendy TuohySeptember 21 2002

The Royal Children's Hospital has asked the Justice Department to investigate an alternative health practitioner who it believes advised the family of a teenage boy with curable cancer to stop chemotherapy.

The family of the boy, who cannot be identified, decided to stop treatment abruptly last year but returned to the hospital six months later with their son critically ill. They asked to resume treatment but the boy died three days later.

The hospital has referred the matter to the Enforcement and Community Awareness Division of Consumer Affairs Victoria. Part of the Department of Justice, this body has the power to prosecute under the Trade Practices Act. It is seeking evidence with a view to possible charges that would relate to misrepresentation of a product.

The hospital's director of Haematology and Oncology, Professor David Ashley, said that while doctors were open minded about alternative therapies, the boy's family had been misled into believing such therapies may offer a cure.

"He (the practitioner) handed them misleading and inaccurate information about the product he treated the child with," said Professor Ashley. "That's not fair, it doesn't allow the family to make an informed decision about the risks and benefits and that's what's potentially criminal."");document.write("

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Professor Ashley said the boy had loving parents who wanted to do the best for him and, given this, the hospital had decided to take action against the practitioner.

He said chemotherapy would have offered a 60 per cent chance of a cure. "But by the time he came back about six months later his physical condition was absolutely appalling. The physician caring for him said he had never been so distressed," Professor Ashley said. The doctor advised the parents he believed their son would die within the week. Professor Ashley said the family of another teenage boy with curable cancer had made the same decision, against the hospital's advice, this week. "They have said: 'We'd like to try this other stuff and come back in a few months.' " Professor Ashley said a study by the hospital found 50 per cent of children attending the hospital in late 2000 and early 2001 were having complementary treatment.

The survey of 500 children found about half had visited an alternative practitioner in the previous year or were taking supplements not prescribed by a doctor. The most common supplements were multivitamins and echinacea. The most common treatments were naturopathy, aromatherapy and therapeutic massage.

Many treatments were self-prescribed by parents, who believed natural therapies were harmless. The majority did not tell doctors that children were using them.

Professor Ashley said doctors needed to be told of usage and doses of alternative treatments to ensure they did not interact with prescribed medicines. "The message (to patients and their families) is we want to work with you, we want to be involved in the process, please don't exclude us."